Prekmurska Gibanica (Slovenian Layered Strudel Cake)
Prekmurska gibanica is the layered pastry cake of Prekmurje, the far northeastern corner of Slovenia, and a national specialty. Four fillings take turns between thin sheets of strudel dough: poppy seed, curd cheese with rum-soaked raisins, walnut, and cinnamon apple. Sour cream and butter soak into every layer as it bakes. The trick is alternating moist and dry fillings, so each slice stays distinct and never turns soggy.
Instructions
Make the strudel dough first. Mound the 500 g of flour on a work surface, make a well, and add a pinch of salt, the sunflower oil and the lukewarm water. Mix, then knead for about 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Shape it into a ball, coat it with oil, cover it, and rest it on a floured board for 30 minutes.
For the short pastry, make a well in the 150 g of flour and add the solid fat, 50 g icing sugar, egg yolk and one pack of vanilla sugar. Knead quickly into a dough.
Prepare the fillings. For the walnut filling, combine the ground walnuts, 80 g sugar, vanilla sugar and cinnamon. Soak the raisins in rum until soft. Mash the curd cheese and mix in the egg, vanilla sugar, 100 g sugar, a little salt and lemon peel until it spreads easily, then stir in the raisins.
For the poppy seed filling, mix the ground poppy seeds with 80 g sugar, cinnamon and lemon peel. Peel and slice the apples and toss them with 100 g sugar and cinnamon. Mix the sour cream with the eggs or egg yolks.
Grease a baking mould well. Roll out the short pastry, line the base of the mould with it, and prick it gently with a fork.
Stretch the strudel dough very thin and brush it with oil. Drape it over the mould so the thick edges hang down, then trim those edges and cut the dough into 8 equal sheets.
Build the layers. Lay a sheet on the pastry base, spread it with poppy seed filling, cover with some sour cream mixture and dot with butter. Repeat with the next sheets in turn: curd cheese filling, walnut filling, then apple filling, each topped with sour cream mixture and butter. Continue the same sequence until you have 8 layers, alternating moist fillings (curd cheese, apple) with drier ones (poppy seed, walnut).
Cover with a final sheet of dough and pull it over the edge of the mould. Top with butter and sour cream mixture, then prick the gibanica with a long needle.
Bake in an oven preheated to 175°C for about 75 minutes. Coat with sour cream and let it cool a little.
Cut into triangles, sprinkle with icing sugar and serve.
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